The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to thermal imaging systems that provide thermal signaling to communicate messages. The thermal imaging systems may be used in visually obscured environments, such as by first responders in a smoke filled building.
First responders, such as firefighters, are often relied upon to extinguish fires in buildings or other structures. Additionally, the firefighters are relied upon to rescue persons within the buildings. However, fires typically generate smoke that reduces the visibility within the building and therefore also may reduce the ability of the firefighters to navigate within the building for such tasks as extinguish the fire, rescue persons trapped within the building and/or safe transit into and out of a building.
Accordingly, thermal imaging cameras are gaining use, particularly by the firefighting community for use within buildings that are experiencing reduced visibility caused by, for example, smoke. In operation, thermal imaging cameras enable the firefighters to operate in various environments in which the vision of the firefighter may be obscured because of smoke and/or other materials entrained in the air. Thermal imaging cameras operate in the infrared light spectrum and therefore provide an alternative view to firefighters by enabling the firefighters to “see” in the reduced visibility environment. More specifically, temperature differences between various objects in the building are highlighted and transformed into a visible image on a display that forms part of the thermal imaging camera. The visible images enable the firefighters to navigate throughout the building. The visible images also enable the firefighters to locate a prone or injured person within the building. Thermal imaging cameras further enable a firefighter to locate a “hot spot” that may be obscured by walls or furniture so that an extinguishing agent may be utilized to eliminate the hot spot.
However, known thermal imaging cameras do not enable the firefighter operating the thermal imaging cameras to identify and distinguish individual firefighters. For example, firefighters typically enter a burning building in groups or teams of multiple members. In known thermal imaging cameras, the thermal images may show multiple firefighters of a team, but it is difficult to identify and distinguish between the firefighters in the image. Such information may be useful for determining if any firefighter is unaccounted for, and, if so, which firefighter(s) are unaccounted. Additionally, known thermal imaging cameras do not enable the firefighter operating the camera to receive operational statuses or other helpful information about the firefighters in addition to the thermal images of the environment. For example, using a typical thermal imaging camera, an operator would not be able to ascertain a status of the firefighters being observed, such as whether any of the firefighters have low air pressure in a respective breathing apparatus or whether a stationary firefighter is voluntarily stationary or is incapacitated.